Bolton College Gatsby Benchmarks

Benchmark

4. Linking curriculum learning to careers

Activity

From their earliest contact with the College (open days / evenings and interviews), students understand that they are taking their course to progress into their chosen careers.

The College designs its curriculum in response to local and national priorities. It provides excellent opportunities for students to develop the skills and knowledge that they require to be successful when they take their next step.

The College holds the Quality in Careers Standard, which requires that students benefit from an embedded careers programme.

This is implemented through the tutorial programme as well as in vocational subjects via the following methods:

• Careers learning as a subject in its own right – via the tutorial curriculum

• Careers inputs that are integral to a course, e.g. courses with dedicated career planning modules

• Incorporating career learning within curriculum areas, e.g. skills teaching, creativity, enterprise and employability, within subjects

• Course experiences, e.g. encounters with employers and employees, encounters with further and higher education providers, experience of work

• Careers enrichment activities, including those that are scheduled in students’ own time and those that are more closely tied to study programmes, e.g. social action, competitions, challenges, performances, national awareness events

• Various workshops and drop in sessions offered by the Careers Team.